Interview: Sandesh Sarang, Revenue Director at Infobip (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka)

Interview with Sandesh Sarang, Revenue Director – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Infobip

Sandesh Sarang is designated as Revenue Director at Infobip – India region. He is chartered to drive business from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and SriLanka.

His rich industry experience and visionary mind-set has been a great guiding lamp to his team. Sandesh is a leader who is focused on growth but compassionate human being who displays great empathy towards customers and employees – which is a key leadership trait. He is an avid sportsman, likes reading and loves being a globe trotter.

Tell us a little about yourself  

Sandesh Sarang: I started my career in 2001. For the past two years, I’ve been associated with Infobip, and it has been an enriching experience.

In over two decades of my professional journey, I’ve led several verticals, including sales, marketing, operations, and channel management, mainly in the telecom and information management services sector.

Before Infobip, I was with Vi as National Strategic Accounts Head for India Region. Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to work with major brands like BPL Mobile, Bharti Airtel Limited, Writer Corporation, and Vodafone.

Besides helping me to become a compassionate leader, working with such brands enabled me to gain the desired experience to forge business partnerships and establish beneficial relationships with channel partners.

I have a family of five, including my mother, Priti, and younger brother, Pravin. He is an analyst in the banking sector and settled in Canada. My wife, Gulshan, is a sales professional in a security firm, and I have a newborn daughter, Myra.

I graduated from the University of Mumbai and pursued my MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, majoring in Marketing.

I like to spend my free time reading and playing sports. Being a globe trotter, I love to travel with my family whenever possible.

Kindly brief us about Infobip, its specialization, and the services that it offers.

Sandesh Sarang: Infobip is a global communication platform that enables brands to deliver memorable customer experiences with its range of services.

It was founded in 2006 to democratize interaction between businesses and consumers. The easy-to-use cloud-based communication platform focuses on seamless connectivity and round-the-clock customer engagement using different channels.

We use conventional and new-age communication tools to enable customer engagement. It includes WhatsApp, SMS, MMS, email, voice, mobile app messaging, RCS, live chat, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Viber, etc.

Our portfolio of channels also includes Google’s Business Messages, Apple Messages for Business, and Web Push. 

Apart from the SaaS portfolio, Infobip was the earliest CPaaS company that transitioned from a developer-driven approach to the co-creation model.

Earlier, our services were limited to A2P communication, but we extended them to the CCaaS model with our unified solution – Conversations.

It enables P2P communication and improves the overall customer experience with hassle-free omnichannel interactions.

Our other product, Moments, is an omnichannel customer engagement solution for brands. It empowers companies to onboard, engage, and retain customers with relevant offers and campaigns.

Our partners can send personalized messages because of in-depth customer segmentation that enables automated behavior. It leads to higher conversion rates.

Answers, our chatbot-building platform, completes Infobip’s SaaS portfolio. It offers next-level automation, allowing companies to be available for their customers 24X7, resulting in increased sales with a virtual assistant and minimum human intervention. It can be easily integrated across channels like WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook Messenger, RCS, etc. 

We also offer a Mobile Identity verification solution that protects customers by verifying them using a mobile number.

It improves CX and increases engagement for businesses. Infobip also has a customer data platform that builds user profiles and provides businesses with a 360-degree view of customer preferences in communication channels.  

With the motto, ‘Worlds Connected’, Infobip strives to empower its clients in their quest to reach customers and deliver services in the most efficient and personalized way.

What are the primary growth drivers for the company?

Sandesh Sarang: Being a global leader in communication, Infobip enables businesses across the globe to offer hassle-free CX with flexible, scalable, and secure solutions like Moments, Conversations, Answers, People, and Mobile Identity.

Our easy-to-use solutions can be integrated without investment in sophisticated hardware, making us a preferable choice.

Besides our solutions, our vision to forge genuine human connections between companies and their customers drive the company’s growth. Our solutions and vision together continue to give us a competitive edge in the market. 

What are the main markets that the company serves?

Sandesh Sarang: Infobip is present in more than 190 countries across continents, with 70+ offices and over 40 data centers.

We have recently expanded to Estonia and Israel. Our main markets in terms of businesses include the US, the APAC region, Europe, LATAM, and India.

How Infobip is adding value to the brands & enterprises across sectors (Retail/Ecomm/BFSI/healthcare) using its CpaaS solutions like conversational AI chatbot

Sandesh Sarang: AI chatbots have revolutionized the customer service landscape in the past few years. The AI-enabled assistants are available 24×7 and resolve customer queries in lesser time.

The adoption of conversational AI is leading to the rise of self-service platforms. Such automated services benefit brands with long-term outcomes.

One such example is an AI chatbot enabling users to book Uber using WhatsApp. Developed with Infobip’s chatbot-building platform Answers, the WhatsApp to Ride (WA2R) experience is available for Uber riders across Delhi-NCR.

If you had one piece of advice for someone just starting out, what would it be?

Sandesh Sarang: So when it comes to career advice, everyone will tell you to keep working towards your goals and be a team player.

While I agree, I would tell a fresher to never stop learning. Knowledge is one of the most powerful things that will help you advance your career, no matter what.

It will not only improve the way you think and do things but also open several other opportunities for you. I would also suggest they venture outside their comfort zone. It will help them expand their skill set.

What are your success tips for young and aspiring entrepreneurs?

Sandesh Sarang: Starting a business and running it is challenging. But honestly, if you take care of basic things and go step by step, you can achieve the desired results.

No matter the idea, the first creation is in your mind, so I believe that aspiring entrepreneurs must be passionate about what they are going to start.

Growing a startup is a slow grind, so you must do something that excites you. Besides being motivated by an idea, you must have a business plan with great market opportunities.

Monitoring your expenses is, of course, another crucial factor. However, I strongly feel that hiring the right people is one of the most important factors driving a startup’s growth.

Your team must resonate with your vision and be compatible with the culture you want to establish. Be clear about your vision, build something unique, prioritize networking, and you will definitely be on the right track.

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